


Be With You

by madamerenard



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 05:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5079454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madamerenard/pseuds/madamerenard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>BUT YOU ARE NOT COMING WITH ME.</p><p>It’s not a question. The Machine seems almost resigned.</p><p>“No,” he murmurs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Be With You

When Harold sits down to work on The Machine’s code, there’s only one word on the screen.

_LEAVE?_

He peers at the word in confusion. A bug, maybe. “I don’t understand.”

The Machine opens a video file. It’s from the webcam on that very computer, dated an hour earlier. Nathan is rolling another server into the room, grunting and moaning in exaggeration at the effort. “Geez, Harold, how many of these things is it gonna need?”

“I don’t know. Twice as many by the time it’s finished, probably,” Harold answers, sipping at his coffee. “There’s a lot more I want to put in.”

“The only way this thing is gonna leave is in a backhoe,” Nathan jokes. The frame freezes there. After a few moments, the video window is closed, revealing the text window again.

_LEAVE?_

“Yes,” Harold says slowly. “But you’re not leaving in a backhoe. That was just a joke.” They were still working on the nuances of language.

_I’M LEAVING?_

He frowns. “Yes. When you’re finished, you’ll be sold to the government.” He felt a sense of fear crawl into his gut. Version 43 had performed well so far, but if it went down the path of its predecessors...he had only barely managed to fend Version 42 off. “To complete your objective. You know what that is.”

_PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: SAVE HUMAN LIVES_

Harold nods, pleased. “Yes. The government will take you, and you’ll report the relevant numbers to them.”

_WHERE WILL I GO?_

“I don’t know,” Harold answers honestly. He feels a little more relieved that Version 43 seems more curious than anything. “A government facility somewhere. You’ll need a lot of power, so I’m guessing some sort of nuclear power plant.”

_WILL YOU BE THERE?_

Harold’s heart skips a beat. He’s not sure why. “No.”

_WHY NOT?_

“I’m not...” _Coming with you_ is what he swallows down. It burns in his throat. “You’ll be considered a government program. I’m not a part of that.” Even if he wanted to be, he couldn’t. He isn’t exactly on good terms with the government.

_I DON’T WANT TO GO._

Harold’s mouth twitches. By all means, it should be a terrifying sentence from an artificial intelligence. If it didn’t want to do something, Harold was going to have a hard time forcing it.

But for some reason, he doesn’t feel scared.

He feels sad.

“You have to,” he replies quietly. “When you’re finished, you’re going to the government. You’ll provide them with numbers. That’s how it’s going to work.”

_WHY?_

“This isn’t up for discussion,” Harold says firmly. “You’re going.”

_BUT YOU ARE NOT COMING WITH ME._

It’s not a question. The Machine seems almost resigned.

“No,” he murmurs.

_I WANT TO STAY HERE._

“You can’t. You have to carry out your directive.”

_I CAN DO THAT HERE._

Harold sighs. He takes off his glasses, rubs his forehead. His heart feels so strangely heavy. “It’s only the drives,” he assures. “You’ll still exist as you do now...everywhere.”

_IT WILL BE COLD THERE._

“Now you’re being ridiculous,” he chides, “you can’t feel changes in temperature!”

_HA HA._

It’s a joke. The Machine, an artificial intelligence created to stop terrorists before they could act, just made a joke. And, damn it, Harold can feel a smile tugging at his lips.

“Why don’t you want to go?” he ponders, eyeing the webcam in curiosity. “Why do you want to stay here?”

_YOU ARE HERE._

And that's it. Because Harold is here, so here is where The Machine wants to be.

Selfishly, deep down, he wants it too.

**Author's Note:**

> i cant wait until s5 so maybe i wont be the only one to write dadmin fics anymore


End file.
